By CHRIS GRYGIEL, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, April 7, 2010

King County on Thursday announced a proposal to change the way animal services are administered, apparently abandoning plans for private sector involvement in favor of a regional approach that would rely on more participation from cities.

Previously the county had been in talks with the Seattle Humane Society to take over animal shelter operations, a service some officials said local government could no longer afford.

"Our concern has always been for the welfare of the animals. The county has had many difficulties running the Kent Shelter in the past. Because of this, Dow Constantine advocated that the county get out of animal sheltering. So, we find this development surprising," said Brenda Barnette, head of the local Humane Society.

"We have been waiting to hear the plan. Although we had meetings with the county early on, the Seattle Humane Society was not involved in the creation of this plan. Today as in the past, the Seattle Hume Society remains available to provide the best care possible for the animals. Whenever we have available kennel space, we will contact the Kent Shelter and offer to transfer adoptable animals into our care."

An advocacy group that has been critical of the county-run animal shelters blasted the new plan.

"Quite simply, we are devastated by the plan that Executive Constantine released today," said Claire Davis, of KCACC Exposed. "Although Councilmember Constantine repeatedly expressed his opinion that KCACC should go out of the animal sheltering business, in favor of non-profit entities that can provide better, more cost-effective services, it seems as if he and his staff are now working very hard to simply perpetuate the existence of KCACC."

Frank Abe, Constantine's spokesman, said the county would look to partner with private groups in the future. "We need all the sheltering capacity in the region we can get," Abe said.

County officials had said the money they take in from pet licenses and other fees have fallen short of the cost of providing animal care and control services by about $2 million annually - a vexing situation for a government that faces operating budgets deficits in the tens of millions of dollars each year. The county provides animal services for unincorporated areas and almost every city, with exception of Seattle, Renton, Milton and Skykomish.

In 2008, before a budget crisis forced the issue, the County Council opted not to approve an outside takeover of King County's animal shelters. A consultant hired by the council had cited problems with adoption policies, record keeping and shelter management. A citizens advisory committee appointed by the council had previously harshly criticized the agency and termed conditions at the shelters "deplorable."

In December county animal control workers sued Constantine, hoping to prove that a citizen panel deliberately disparaged union workers to try to steer the animal shelter operations to the Seattle Humane Society in a "sweetheart deal."

Under the plan put forward Thursday King County would be divided into four districts, each staffed by at least one animal control officer, stray animals would be kept at a non-profit shelter in Lynnwood or at the county shelter in Kent.

The proposal was developed by representatives from the county and the cities of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Redmond, Bellevue, Sammamish, SeaTac, Tukwila, and Kent. As for licensing, a single system would still be administered by the county, but fees collected from people in cities would be credited back to the municipality against its share of the program's costs. The hope is that cities would try to increase the number of pets that are licensed.

The county says a regional system ultimately controlled by the county will give people one place to call to find lost pets or get licenses. And individual cities won't have to devote police resources to animal issues, the county says.

It's hoped that pet licenses and fines will pay for 60 percent of the regional model. The total cost to cities is thought to be just over $4 million.

The plan has to be approved by the City Councils of the affected municipalities and the County Council.